Eyeglasses.



W. W. HOFFMAN.

EYEGLASSES. APPLICATION FILED 11.11.17, 1912.

1,058,748. Patented Apr. 15, 1913 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. HOFFMAN, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 'IO E. KIRSTEINSONS COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OENEW YORK.

EYEGLASSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

Application filed January 17,1912. Serial N 0. 671,763.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, WILLIAM W. HOFF- MAN, of Rochester, in the county ofMonroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Eyes glasses; and I' do hereby declare the follow? ingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference beinghad tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,and to the reference-nu merals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to eyeglasses and more particularly topince nez or eyeglasses of the type employing, or suitable for theemployment of, a rigid bridge and in which the nose engaging portionsare carried upon arms or levers held against the nose by springpressure, and it has for its object to improve the efficiency anddurability of the spring or springs that actuate the guards or nosebearing portions.

Further objects of the invention are to obtain simplicity ofconstruction and operation and promote ease of manipulation of theseveral parts of the mounting, including the spring, during assembling,adjustment or repair.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvementsand combinations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the endof the specification. I

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of an eyeglass mountingconstructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of myinvention, one of the guards and its actuating spring being removed;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view; Fig. 3 is an en-' larged bottom plan view ofone .of the guards and its actuating spring, and Fig. 4 is a verticalsection taken substantially on the line 4.& of Fig. 3.

In the present embodiment of the invention I employ a substantiallyrigid arched bridging portion 1 and lensattaching porlenses andperforated as are the lenses for he lens screws 4. Each end of thebridge d its adjacent lens attaching portion are 'ned by a connectingportion 5 forming tions 2 having the usual securing straps 3 extendingacross the opposite faces of the seats for the guard levers 6, adescription of the construction and arrangements of one of which latterwill suiiice for both.

The eyeglass illustrated is of the finger piece type and each guard 6 ispreferably mounted on top of its table or connecting portion 5 to extendhorizontally from front to rear of the mounting, the forwardlyprojecting portion or arm being provided with a finger piece 7 and therearwardly extending portion with a suitable nose engaging pad or pads8, the said lever being pivoted at an intermediate point to turn on aheaded screw or fastener 9 extending therethrough nd secured in theconnecting portion. The

eneral operation and requirementsof a finger piece eyeglass are too wellknown .in the art to warrant mention herein.

The means for actuating the guard or moving its nose engaging portion 8against the nose comprises a helical spring 10 that may be made of roundwire or other suitable material, andis preferably arranged on theopposite side of the table or support 5 from that on which the guardlever is mounted, being in the present instance the under side. By ahelical spring I mean one substantially as shown, the convolutions ofwhich follow a point revolving about an axis and at the same time movinglongitudinally of that axis, as in the generation of a helix. The. axisof the spring is preferably arranged in a fplane substantially parallelwith the plane 0 pivotal movement of the guard lever 6 and alsopreferably so disposed as to extend substantially longitudinally of theguard or from front to rear of themo-unting to reduce the 'pupilarydistance and for other obvious reasons. One-end is connected to thesupport and the other to the guard and the spring is, furthermore, sopositioned that as the guard is vibrated by means of the finger piece tomove its nose engaging portion Similar reference numerals throughout:the several figures lndlcate the same parts.

away from the nose, it will be flexed transr versely of its axis ordistorted laterally as distinguished from a longitudinal compression orextension, such as springs of thisvide a laterally projecting arm 11thereon at the forward end that is received within a box or socket 12soldered to or otherwise suitably carried on the under side of the part5 or support, the longitudinal axis of the socket being disposed in thepresent instance transversely of the axis of the spring and the guardlever 6 and in or substantially parallel with the general plane of theeyeglass and of its lenses. The said arm 11 may be held by frictionalone so that it is secure, though detachable, and the opposite end ofthe spring is also preferably detachably connected to the guard lever.The specific connection that I prefer may be supplied at this point byoffsetting the outer convolution 13 of the coil that thus provides ahook engaging over the rear arm of the lever. I also prefer to arrangethe points of connection of the two ends of the spring with theirrespective parts upon opposite sides of the pivot 9 or turning axis ofthe guard, as shown, one advantage thereof being that a longer coil maybe used with relation to the length of the arm of the lever with whichthe spring cooperates.

By the employment of a spring of the "character set forth arranged toact in the manner described, the spring always possesses considerablereserve strength; the strain is not centralized at any one point butdistributed so that it is absorbed by the elasticity of the coiledlength as a whole; its durability is, therefore, increased and an easybut firm pressure is exercised with the result that the guard levers actwith great smoothness.

Of course, to obtain increased power from the spring its extensibleelasticity may be taken advantage of by fixing the end 13 t0 the guard,as by soldering or otherwise, due

to the fact that one point of anchorage moves in an arc relatively towhich the other point of anchorage is stationary so that the two pointsapproach and recede from each other according to the movement of theguard lever 6 but I do not consider this of extreme importance as thespring action first described is suflicient and the end 13 may,therefore, be allowed to slide upon the lever as the guardlis actuated.

I claim as my invention:

1. In eyeglasses, the combination with a support comprising asubstantially rigid bridging portion and a lens attaching por tion, anda guard lever pivoted to the support and provided with a finger portionand a nose bearing portion, of a helical spring,

for operating the guard connected to the latter and to the support andadapted to be flexed in a direction transversely of its axis as thebearing portion of the guard moves toward and from the nose.

2. In eyeglasses, thecombination with a support comprising asubstantially rigid bridging portion and a lens attaching portion, and aguard lever pivoted to the support and provided with a finger portionand a nose bearing portion, of a helical spring for operating the guardconnected to the latter and to the support and arranged with its axisextending substantially longitudinally of the guard lever so that it isflexed in a direction transversely of its axis as the nose bearingportion of the guard moves toward and from the nose.

3. In eyeglasses, the combination with a support comprising a bridgingportion and a lens attaching portion, and a guard lever pivoted to thesupport and provided with a finger portion and a nose bearing portion.of a helical spring for positioning the guard disposed with its axistransverse to the axis of the latter and cooperating with the guard onone side of its turning axis and with the support on the opposite sideof such turning axis.

4. In eyeglasses, the combination with a support comprising a bridgingportion and a lens attaching portion, and a guard lever pivoted to thesupport and provided with a finger portion and a nose bearing portion,of a helical spring for positioning the guard arranged with its axisextending substantially longitudinally of the latter and having one endcooperating therewith on one side of the turning axis of the guard andits other end cooperating with the support on the opposite side of t eturning axis of the guard.

5. In eyeglasses, the combination with a support, of a horizontallyarranged finger piece guard lever pivoted to turn on one side thereofand a spring for operating the guard embodying a helical coil arrangedon the opposite side of the support with its axis extendingsubstantially parallel with the guard lever, the opposite ends of thespring being connected to the support and the guard lever, respectively,upon opposite sides of the turning axis of the latter.

6. In eyeglasses, the combination with a support, and a finger pieceguard lever pivoted thereon, of a helical spring for actuating the guardlever connected to the latter at one end and to the support at the otherarranged with its axis extending substantially parallel with the planeof pivotal movement of the guard and adapted to be flexed transverselyof its own axis as the guard is vibrated.

7. In eyeglasses, the combination with a support and a finger pieceguard lever pivoted thereon, of a helical spring for operating the guardlever connected at one end to the latter on one side of the said pivotand at the other end to the support on the other side of said pivot,said spring being arranged with its axis extending substantiallyparallel with the plane of pivotal movement of the guard and adapted tobe flexed transversely of its own axis as the guard is vibrated.

8. In eyeglasses, the combination with a support and a finger pieceguard lever pivoted thereto, of a helical spring for positioning theguard having its respective ends connected to the latter and to thesupport and arranged to be flexed transversely of its own axis as theguard is vibrated and means for securing one end of the springcomprising a transversely extending arm thereon and a socket on the partto which it is connected into which the arm projects.

9. In eyeglasses, the combination with a support and a finger pieceguard lever pivoted thereto, of a helical spring for positioning theguard having its respective ends connected to the latter and to thesupport and arranged to beflexed transversely of its own axis as theguard is vibrated, an outer convolution at one end of the spring beingoffset to provide a hooked securing means for cooperation with the partto which it is attached.

10. In eyeglasses, the combination with a support comprising asubstantially rigid bridging portion and a lens attaching portion, of aguard arm pivoted thereon and provided with a nose engaging portion anda helical spring for holding the guard against the nose, connected atone end to the guard arm and at the other to the support and adapted tobe flexed in a direction transversely of its own axis when the guard ismoved away from the nose;

WILLIAM W. HOFFMAN.

Witnesses:

RUssnLL B. GRIFFITH, II. E. STONEBRAKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

